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iSignthis chief executive John Karantzis holds himself out as being, among other things, a “qualified patent attorney”.

He has been described as such in numerous investor presentations lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange.

His profile as an adjudicator for the Northern Territory Department of Justice describes him so, too.

“I'm actually also a qualified patent attorney, so I wear a number of hats and it gets quite confusing,” Karantzis told Eureka Report’s Alan Kohler on March 27.

He’s confused alright! Here and in New Zealand, patent and trademark attorneys are regulated by a statutory body, the Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys Board. It has confirmed to us that Karantzis is not, and never has been, a registered patent attorney.

Section 201 (2) of the Commonwealth’s Patents Act 1990 stipulates that “an individual commits an offence if the individual describes himself or herself, or holds himself or herself out, or permits himself or herself to be described or held out, as a patent attorney or agent for obtaining patents and the individual is not a registered patent attorney”.

iSignthis chief executive John Karantzis holds himself out as being, among other things, a “qualified patent attorney”.

He has been described as such in numerous investor presentations lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange.

His profile as an adjudicator for the Northern Territory Department of Justice describes him so, too.

“I'm actually also a qualified patent attorney, so I wear a number of hats and it gets quite confusing,” Karantzis told Eureka Report’s Alan Kohler on March 27.

He’s confused alright! Here and in New Zealand, patent and trademark attorneys are regulated by a statutory body, the Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys Board. It has confirmed to us that Karantzis is not, and never has been, a registered patent attorney.

Section 201 (2) of the Commonwealth’s Patents Act 1990 stipulates that “an individual commits an offence if the individual describes himself or herself, or holds himself or herself out, or permits himself or herself to be described or held out, as a patent attorney or agent for obtaining patents and the individual is not a registered patent attorney”.

In those same presentations and elsewhere (like iSignthis' annual report), Karantzis also claimed to hold an LLM, a graduate law degree whose entry requirement is an undergraduate degree in law (an LLB or equivalent), which Karantzis does not have.

Until yesterday, Karantzis’ LinkedIn profile claimed he gained an LLM at the University of Melbourne back in 2000, which – of course – he never did. He did receive a Master of Commercial Law (MCommrclLaw), a very different course available to non-law graduates, but in 2013.

His unfaithful resume was abruptly rectified online right after we queried his study history. We managed to verify our customer in the end! Hey, what’s the harm in a little CV fraud from a fraud detection company?